A hybrid and an Original walk into a bar
by AstridWinchester
Summary: Kol has an interesting conversation with a different kind of hybrid. Oneshot


She met him outside of the Grill, and he seemed to be looking for company.

"I'm bored. Entertain me?" He asked with a smirk at her and she smiled.

"What sort of entertainment do you have in mind?"

"Being the time of day, I really want a drink right now."

"Then by all means," she waved her hand at the bar to signal for him to lead the way. "Drinking does sound good."

As they entered, he smirked and made his way toward the bar. "I'm Kol."

"Kol," she repeated and smiled as she followed him. "I'm Arsenic."

"That's a very unique name."

"It's a type of poison. I like irony," she winked at him. "I also know a Belladonna and a Cyanide." She ordered herself a shot of whiskey and perched on a stool.

Kol chuckled. "That does sound like a nice irony." He sat down, ordering a glass of bourbon.

"Especially when it was one of my first methods of killing," she added. "I guess it's my way of remembering where I came from."

"Poison is too slow. It may be a nice form a torture but I don't get pleasure out of it."

"It was part of a torture," she shrugged and downed her drink and ordered another. "What's your favorite?"

"Well, I enjoy beating them to a bloody pulp and then ripping their hearts out. Unless it's a human then I drink them dry and rip their throat out."

"All this talk of blood and killing is making me hungry," she pouted. She caught the waiter's eye and requested french fries.

"That's why we have alcohol," He answered.

"Not the same." She shook her head.

"Curbs the craving."

"Not to pry, but I heard that the Originals scattered. Well except Klaus and Rebekah. What brings you back to Mystic Falls?"

"Rebekah called me on a tantrum about Nik daggering her and that if I didn't come back, she was going to find a stake and drag it through his heart. So I had to return."

"Ah," she nodded sagely. "I get the feeling that I'm not doing a very good job of entertaining you."

"Good company and drink. I _am _entertained."

"I'm flattered. And a bit more reassured," she laughed and nibbled a fry. "Any holiday plans besides being a sibling referee?"

"Not to my knowledge, no."

"That's a shame." She offered him a french fry with a playful smile. "Having something to chew on helps the cravings. So does sex or cigarettes if you smoke."

He made a face at the offered fry. "I am not a fan of human food. I only eat certain things of it," He answered. "Sex is a very nice craving relief."

Arsenic shrugged and popped it into her mouth. "Suit yourself. And it has its uses. Just have to make sure there's no pesky emotions involved."

"The only pesky emotions that could even possibly be involved would be the person I'm sleeping with."

"Makes sense. You know, you're not what I expected given what I've heard." She eyed him speculatively and he smirked.

"And what have you heard?"

"That you're a bat-happy, humanity-less and extremely dangerous vampire. With a heart as black as coals like your name." She rubbed her nose and sipped her drink then waved a hand. "Etcetera, etcetera."

"I am all of those things, darling," He answered.

"Yet you're sitting here with a hybrid having a drink instead of killing her." Amusement flashed in her eyes when she looked at him. "Not that I'm suggesting it, of course, I like existing. I'm merely commenting on the fact that it's a surprise."

"Nik would have my head if he knew I killed a hybrid. I know when to kill and when not to kill. Which is when it pleases me. You are pleasing me alive, therefore you will stay that way until you stop pleasing me," He replied, simply as if he wasn't threatening her.

"I wonder then if this would be a good time to mention that I'm not one of _his _hybrids," she replied and eyed him warily. "What I am is quite a bit different. A whole new level of freak, if you will. And yay to pleasing you, no dirty pun intended."

Kol looked at her in questioning, not understanding. He didn't know anyone else could make hybrids other than his brother. "How is it possible you're not Nik's hybrid?"

"It's…complicated. Long story short, a shape shifting demon took advantage of my mother and I'm half demon. I can turn into any animal I feel like, recently its a wolf, before that was a hawk, and so on. Few centuries ago I was also made a vampire. I can walk in sun, wear silver, do anything a vampire like you can with a few added abilities."

"So you're half demon, half vampire, rather than the other half being wolf," He summed.

"Exactly. He apparently took the form of a normal human and either raped or seduced her, I never bothered to find out. Which means that as far as I'm aware, I'm the only one of my kind." She scowled and finished her drink and ordered something stronger. "Yay me."

"Sounds fun," Kol said sarcastically and ordered another drink.

Her mood lifting at his humor, she laughed. "Don't you know it. As it is, I've stayed well away from him so I'm quite happy that I'm not one of his. Especially considering the fact that he slaughtered them."

"I was amused by his slaughtering massacre," He answered, cheerfully.

At the genuine enjoyment in his tone and expression, she laughed again. "I don't doubt that. And from an outsider's point of view, I agree. There's a certain poetry about it."

"I would have loved to see it though. Front row with a glass of bourbon."

"You do like your bourbon, don't you?" she teased playfully. "It's a bit too strong for me most days. Well unless I feel like forgetting."

"Yes. I enjoy its taste and how strong it is helps the cravings."

"I may have to give it another try. I miss moonshine," she sighed nostalgically. "Back when it first came out."

He shrugged, sipping from his glass. "So what exactly brings you here to Mystic?"

"Well, a friend of mine lives in New Orleans, I'm passing through. He sort of found me when I went full ripper after I was turned and he gets cranky if I don't keep in touch. Made a few friends, and it's not altogether the _worst _town, so I'm taking a detour."

"Depends on what time of year you're here," he muttered.

"What do you mean?" she asked and cocked her head curiously.

"Early in the year it's pretty boring. So it just depends on what time of year you're here as to whether it's the worst town or not."

"Hmm…" She pondered this and shrugged. "Again with the sense-making. Tell me, Kol, where would you rather be if you didn't have to be here to keep your family from killing each other?"

"I was in Denver for a while. I'd take weekend trips all across the world. I don't want to be somewhere, other than here. I want to be everywhere."

"I can understand that," she nodded. "Traveling makes the whole eternity thing more bearable. There's a whole world out there to explore, why would you ever want to stay in one place? What was in Denver?"

"Classes. I have come to enjoy learning about the human world."

"You say that like you haven't been around to experience it first hand," she commented then finished her drink and took a page out of his book and ordered a bourbon. "I had a sister once. Leora, she died of course."

"I can only be so many places at once, darling. And I was neutralized for 100 years. I missed a lot," He answered, sipping his drink. "I had three other siblings who have died. I know how it feels."

"Oh," her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Well that must have sucked. Has the world gotten better or worse since then, do you think?" At the other comment about his siblings, she felt for him a moment. "I'm sorry about your siblings."

"Some parts better, others worse," He answered, finishing his drink and ordered another. "Aaron and Henrik were 1,000 years ago. Finn was recent but he spent 900 years neutralized and wanted us dead anyway, so I'm over it."

"Wow.." she turned her glass in her hand and looked at it thoughtfully. "Still, thousand years ago or recent, not a pleasant feeling." Not wanting to spoil their conversation with depressing matters, she replied to his other statement. "In what ways worse and better?"

"The technological advances are nice, convenient but make humans extremely lazy at times. The worst of the change though is the attitude."

"What was the attitude like before? And I'm in complete agreement about the laziness. There's video games that people will play so much they forget to eat and sleep or otherwise live. It's disturbing," she said and wrinkled her nose distastefully.

"I simply meant the texting and phone calls, but yes… Video games and television are quite bad too," he replied, running his fingers through his hair. "Before I was.. put to sleep, women acted like ladies and men were gentlemen."

She snickered and lifted her hand to cover the smile on her face. "Yeah those are in very short supply nowadays, I'm afraid. It's quite sad, people get so dependent on texting that they forget what it is to call someone up and just talk. I mean, it's convenient sure, but there's something to be said for losing yourself in a meaningless conversation through a phone line. Plus, texting is very informal. There's no real connection there to the person you're speaking to."

"And my sarcasm is very hard to express through a font and letters," he joked.

She couldn't help it, he was very charming, and she chuckled. "So true," she lifted her glass and tapped it on his. "It just doesn't have the right effect that way."

He smirked and sipped his drink. "I wish he would have used the technology to record the massacre."

"Too bad, would probably be your favorite video to watch," she remarked with a similar expression. "Be like one of his greatest hits. What were _yours_?"

"My greatest kills?" He asked.

"Mhm," she nodded and sipped her drink, toying with her straw. "Call me morbid, but I'm curious what you did before bats were invented."

Kol smirked, and he thought. "My greatest kill was the Seven Days," He answered.

Propping her chin up with her hand, she watched him. "Do tell."

"I had a bit of fun with my sinning self. She was a girl, cute. I put her through all the seven deadly sins at their worst form. And then I ripped her heart out."

"Nice," she grinned in approval. "I'm going to be arrogant and say they were all my best."

"All of mine were too, but that's my favorite."

"Well since we're telling stories, I guess I'll share one." She tipped her head up and considered her years as a ripper pre-Diablos' interference. "Usually I prefer to play with daggers and energy but torture was more fun. Probably my favorite was to hack off pieces of a girl's body and leave them for her husband. He didn't appreciate my 'presents'," she smirked at the memory. "A hand one day, an organ another. In the end he was stupid enough to come after me directly."

Kol perked a brow, intrigued. "Do tell."

"I forget what it was that made me notice them..Oh wait," she remembered. "He was a hunter. His wife was this pretty little thing, very attractive. Stalked them for about a week, learned all of his techniques and one night when he was away I posed as her new neighbor to get her to come outside. Held her in an abandoned warehouse and kept her drugged except when I wanted to hear the screams. The first 'gift' was her finger with her wedding band attached."

Kol smirked some more, entirely too amused by this story and listened excitedly. "Go on."

"After that I got creative and made sure to take time off to keep an eye on him. Even called and left voice-mails of her screaming. At first I debated sending her organs alphabetically but there's just so many letters and not enough organs, so I improvised. A hand, then her liver and kidneys, her ears with these lovely earrings he'd bought her. Her heart and head were the last two, the heart was left on his desk at work with a note. Her head on the doorstep."

"What did the note say?" He asked.

"I think it was a poem," she mused. "It was! He'd written her a poem as their wedding vows. I found it framed in his office and copied it. Suffice it to say, he was at breaking point. There's just something so delicious about pushing someone to the edge and seeing exactly what it takes to send them over. The cops had been compelled not to take him seriously so he was isolated. He decided that he was badass enough to take me on. Ripped out his heart and set him on fire," she finished and lifted her drink to her lips with a smile.

Kol was grinning from ear to ear at the story. It was rare he truly tortured. That was more of Nik and Rebekah's thing. This was genius though. "Mm, sounds delicious."

She sighed wistfully and finished her drink and got another. "Good times. The rest were great but that one was special. 'Course now I'm more about balance but I was a terror as a ripper. It's more about killing then moving on, haven't taken time to truly enjoy the more twisted side of myself in a while."

"I dive into my twisted side at least once a month."

She laughed again. "Every so often I take the leash off and just lose myself in the hunt but for the most part I like to fly under the radar. Less eyes and ears that way and I can pick and go whenever I want."

"I simply know how to cover my tracks," He answered with a grin.

"Well you _are _older," she stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm only 726, two of those centuries have been on the straight and narrow. I know how to cover them, half the time I just didn't care or I'd switch forms and watched people try to find the killers. Left a few tips too, just to screw with them a little."

Kol chuckled softly. "Are you calling me old?"

"Not at all sweetheart," she winked. "I do have some self preservation. Only that the difference between us is that I wasn't asleep for a while. Humans have gotten smarter in that time. They can tell your fingerprints or your identity from something as small as your earlobe. There, I've covered myself."

"Yes, so I've learned. It's frustrating and more difficult to cover my tracks.."

"See?" She lifted her drink in acknowledgement. "They've got crap like security cameras and so much technology it makes my head hurt. You have be more careful these days with what you do and who you kill. Hell, even how you dispose of the bodies. They look into all of that and make personality profiles and it's just insane. Either you learn to watch your back or you're exposed or worse; dead. I don't fancy either of those scenarios."

"Well, they can't kill me," He said, with a grin.

"Seeing as how there's never been another like me or ever will be, I don't know if they can but I'd rather _not_ find out. The world is screwed up and going downstairs anyway, I'm just playing my part," Arsenic muttered and tossed her drink back and took a moment to let her head clear before signaling for another.

Kol finished his own, making an order for another as she got hers. "How long are you here for?"

"I don't know yet," she shrugged. "I suppose until I get bored. Not my fault if Dia gets pissy with me. He knows how anti-social I can be."

He chuckled quietly. "I'm quite the opposite."

"People are generally annoying and stupid." She rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. "I'll make exceptions but as a whole I'm not a people person. They typically get sorted into three categories," she drew three circles on the bar as she spoke, "Like, dislike, or undecided."

He chuckled again. "Sounds fair."

"I try not to judge off first impressions. Just because someone acts one way doesn't mean they do all of the time. When I feel like company, I go for a drink or to a club. When I don't, usually I just disappear or take walks at night by myself." Arsenic shot Kol a smile, "you're somewhere between like and undecided, if you care to know."

"What is there to be undecided about? I have yet to kill you," He asked curiously.

"The fact that you just said 'yet'?" she laughed.

"Promise to keep making sadistic stories to tell and I'll promise not to kill you," He answered with a playful smile.

"Can I trust your word?" she arched an eyebrow in response and returned the smile.

"I am a gentleman and gentlemen never go back on their word," He answered with mock hurt.

"Oh don't pout, it doesn't suit you." She smirked and held out her hand to seal their bargain. "Very well, we'll be drinking/story buddies for the duration of my stay. Unless we happen to run into each other somewhere down the line when I hope your promise stays true."

He grinned. "They shall."

"Excellent." She glanced down at her hand and waited for him to shake it or something. "While I did say gentleman were rare, don't make the mistake in thinking I'm a lady like you knew. But I'll do my best to keep you entertained."

He took her hand and then kissed the back of it. "Sometimes not acting like a lady is what brings me most entertainment."

Arsenic cleared her throat and took another sip of her drink. "Probably why we've been talking for so long."

He released her hand and stood, offering her his arm and she took it. "On that note, I think it's best we say goodnight. Till next time, Arsenic," he said her name in a purr and walked off into the night leaving her standing alone outside the Grill. He'd had fun talking to the hybrid, and looked forward to hearing more of her stories.


End file.
